Spiritual Growth

raise; What does it mean to praise? Why praise? How do we praise?(3-5 minutes) Praise is saying good things about someone. We know that God has done great things. He deserves our praise. Does He need our praise? No. We need to praise because when we do, we remind ourselves of his greatness and establish this truth in our hearts. As we worship Him with our hearts, we are lifted up into one presence. We can worship with words: reading the Psalms, speaking out or reflecting on how great God is, singing or listening to praise and worship music. We can worship with our imagination, that we are in God’s presence worship Him and expressing our love to Him. (This is Ignatian style prayer).

epentance; Why is repentance important?(2-4 minutes) God knows what we have done. It is no secret. He knows our sins and He knows how to deal with our sins. There is no sin that is too big for Him. It is freeing to expose our weakness and failures. As the expression goes, “you’re as sick as your secrets.” There is no better place to deal with our sin than in the sacrament of Reconciliation, which we should receive regularly. On a daily basis, however, it is important to do an examination of conscience and to admit our failures to God.

sk; How can I remember to pray for everybody and everything I should, let alone for myself?(5-10 minutes) Sometimes we have an overwhelming number of intentions on our minds. One manageable way to remember to pray for them all is to make a weekly list, praying for a few each day. Another idea is to pray a rosary, offering a decade or a Hail Mary for various people and intentions. Be assured that it is not bad or selfish to pray for your own needs too.

ield; To what are we yielding and why is this important?How do we yield? (5-15 minutes) It is not really a question of “to what” we yield, but “to whom?” We are yielding to God. Yielding is a lifelong process; it is the daily struggle to let go of our own will and give way to God’s will for our life. Yielding can begin with giving God permission to do what He needs to do in us. We then ask the Holy Spirit to help us give way to his will throughout the day. A very practical way to yield to God’s will is to take time to listen to Him. This means taking time for quiet, to just “be” in God’s presence and perhaps hear Him speak to you (not audibly, but in the depths of your heart). This usually works well if you have been reflecting on a Scripture passage. The reading of Scripture should always accompany your daily prayer (this will be the topic of the next lesson). Journaling is also helpful —write down what you feel the Lord is telling you so that you can look back and see his work and guidance in your life. “Pray” Text provide by Catholic Christian Outreach